Sunday, June 23, 2013

Kneaders French toast - it was on the list!!
Kneaders is brand new in the valley and we are HAPPY!

I started the summer with a list of things I wanted to do...you know; places to go and people to see!! Things I really can't seem to find time for when school is in session and I am caught up in teaching. But, I was really surprised at the fact that so many of the things on my list involved food! (Insert frowny face here as my pants are getting mighty snug!) This week I am going to go work with a friend who has developed a great granola mix that she sells at local farmer's markets...it's on the list! It has been such fun to choose something new to do everyday and then to try to find someone to do it with!!

Listening...to the still and the quiet. Isn't it funny how this quiet is peaceful because I know noise and bustle will be returning shortly!?!? At other times quiet is lonely. I like this quiet tonight.

Eating...Paradise Bakery Lemon Zester cookie, ice cream, Backyard Tacos, Birthday dinner at The Keg for Rich (yum!), BBQ foods at the family June birthday celebration, Kneader's French toast, great hot-weather salads...yep, it's been a good eating week. Tonight I made it simple...a fresh BLT with home-grown tomatoes - YUM! (Geez, I have got to make sure I get to the bike riding, hiking and walking part of my summer-to-do-list! No wonder my pants are getting snug.)

Reading... my Reading list is eclectic. I have reading-ADD. Currently reading:

The Beyonders by Brandon Mull

Accessible Mathematics

Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo (audio)

Marco Polo (all the books I could find at the library in the juvenile section!)

Top of the Morning by Brian Stelter (about the cutthroat morning TV wars!)

The Shadow of the Blackbirds by Cat Winters

I have a huge stack more just tempting me and reminding me that I need to read faster!!!!

Watching... Longmire (based on the Craig Johnson series of books that we love), and all the end of season shows on my DVR. I can't wait for Covert Affairs to return in July as well.

Wanting... a new haircut and color. It will happen this week. Yippee!

Thinking... how excited I am that my students did so well on our standardized tests(AIMs)!!!! I was over the moon-excited when my principal emailed me the results. The hard work was so worth it and my kiddos really rallied and shined! What a great confirmation that what we did worked. I wanted to bottle up that feeling and sip on it over and over. I literally sat in my car reading the email and wept!! Tears of joy for jobs well done. You kids rocked!!!!!!

Saturday, June 8, 2013

I love it that I am making the time to read for myself this summer. I am always reading for Book Groups and for work as well as for my kiddos at school.

Book-A-Day (Based on Donalyn Miller's program) is forcing me to be mindful, read and record my reading so that I can both model for my students as well as read what I want to read.

As I was listening to a really interesting book on King Tut I became really intrigued with a time period I have never known much about beyond cursory knowledge. Since then I have checked out multiple books on Ancient Egypt as well as books on Historical Timelines. Cool stuff, guys!

I fell for Eleanor & Park while wondering what all the buzz was about. Who knew?!

Common Core Math has me boning up more than my skills....I am creating, pondering, persevering and making meaning of fractions, factors, and fractals - - just kidding about the fractals but it was too good to pass up all that alliteration! Nonetheless I Fraction Frenzy has me reading all sorts of fun books for kids. What a cool thing to have literature to match a math skill. Wish I had that when I was a kid.

Keeping with my all-things-Egyptian-summer...I am reveling in the 109+ degree temperatures and have finally tried an Elizabeth Peters book. Her classic Amelia Peabody book (#1), The Crocodile on the Sandbank, was witty and delightful. I can see more of those classic books in my future.

I am still pondering MY one amazing thing but I do know that the book, by Chitra Divakaruni was AMAZING. I L.O.V.E. her as an author and I have ever since I read Arranged Marriage back in 1995. Whoa, can I truly remember that?!?! You bet! Her writing was incredible then and it has sweetened with time. I loved how I stretched with her first book. It truly was a thrill for me to read her again. I also got to hear her at the Tucson Festival of the Book this past March. Again, Amazing!

I am not chronicling all of my books here until the end of summer, but I am diligently keeping records to show my kiddos. I even signed up for the summer reading program for adults as I encouraged my students to do. That accountability factor will help us all. In the meantime, I am on a real roll with some great books. Yep, I do love summer!